1. Field
The present application relates generally to the operation of communication systems, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for channel aid interference estimation in a communication system.
2. Background
Data networks, such as wireless communication networks, have to trade off between services customized for a single terminal and services provided to a large number of terminals. For example, the distribution of multimedia content to a large number of resource limited portable devices (subscribers) is a complicated problem. Therefore, it is very important for network administrators, content retailers, and service providers to have a way to distribute content and/or other network services in a fast and efficient manner and in such a way as to increase bandwidth utilization and power efficiency.
In current content delivery/media distribution systems, real time and non real time services are packed into a transmission frame and delivered to devices on a network. For example, a communication network may utilize Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) to provide communications between a network server and one or more mobile devices. This technology provides a transmission frame having data slots that are packed with services to he delivered over a distribution network as a transmit waveform.
The performance of a communication system may depend on the performance of the communication channel between the network and a device. To characterize this performance, it is desirable to estimate both the channel (signal) and interference (noise) energy. For example, the interference energy comprises receiver noise as well as interference from other undesired signals in the environment. Once the interference energy is determined, it may be used to facilitate demodulation, field testing, or other functions related to the operation or improved performance of the communication system. Unfortunately, while it is relatively easy to get an estimate of combined signal and interference energy, it is more difficult to determine individual estimates.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a system that operates to efficiently determine signal and interference energy in a communication system so that the performance of the system can be determined and/or optimized.